One of the most common breakfast items available today are flakes made of corn, wheat or other gelatinized, starch-containing material. Numerous processes are known for making breakfast flakes from pellets of such materials. There are, however, disadvantages to those processes. For example, those prior art processes require the pellets to be flaked shortly after they are produced or dried. The prior art pellets are not meant to be stored for extended periods of time before flaking, and thus the prior art does not teach how to produce flakes from pellets which have been stored for extended periods, especially when the pellets have a low moisture content.
Examples of these prior art processes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,364,634 to Lippen; 2,388,904 to Collatz; 2,552,290 to Lilly et al; 2,788,277 to Huber; 2,882,162 to Holahan; 3,062,657 to Vollink; 3,121,637 to Clausi et al; 3,318,705 to Clausi et al; 3,345,183 to Lilly et al; 3,453,115 to Clausi et al; 3,484,250 to Vollink et al; 3,556,802 to Gulstad; 3,814,824 to Bedenk et al; 3,845,232 to Reesman; 3,976,793 to Olson et al; 4,044,159 to Lutz; 4,431,674 to Fulger et al; 4,435,430 to Fulger et al; and 4,472,449 to Quinn et al.